Improved steering apparatus



Unire@ Srrafrns PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD A. TURNER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND- JOHN A.LEGGAT, OF BRANFORD, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVED STEERING APPARATUS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 54,824, dated May 15,1866.

To all whom it 'may concern.:

Be it known that I, EDWARD A. TURNER, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in SteeringApparatus for Ships and other Vessels; and l do hereby declare that thefollowing is afull, clear, and exact description of the saine, reference`heilig had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specication,in which-- Figure lis an end elevation of a steering apparatusconstructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical t-ransversesection taken in the line x' .r of Fig. 3, and looking in the directionof the arrow. Fig. 3 is a plan or top View. f

Similar letters of reference indica-te corresponding parts in all thefigures.

This invention is designed to lessen the severe exertion heretoforerequired in working the steering apparatus of ships and other vessels,and. to preventthe steersman from being thrown over the wheel orotherwise injured by the jerking thereofl from the action of the rudder;and it consists in a novel arrangement of two locking-pawls, with framesfor operating the same, with reference to two ratchet- Wheels securedupon the drum of the appara tus, whereby the said drum may be preventedfrom turning in either or both directions, in order to retain the rudderin any desired position.

The invention further consists in a novel arrangement of parts by whichthe aforesaid pawls may be brought into or out of contact with theratchet-wheels, when desired, by the hand or foot of the steersman.

rlo enable others to understand the construction and operation of myinvention, I will proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings.

A is the horizontal drum of the steering apparatus, the shaft or axle aof which works at each end in suitable bearings formed inthe verticalstandards b, situated one at each end of the said drum.

B is ashaft, which is placed above the drum A, and Works in bearingsformed in the upper ends of the standards I), and has a wheel, C, fixedupon one or both of its ends, the said wheels heilig furnished withhandles d. rlhe shaft B is geared with the drum A by spur wheels c andf, so that by turning the wheels C by means of their handles d a rotarymotion in either direction may be given to the said drum to operate thechain or rope which works the rudder.

Fixed upon one end of the drum A, preferably upon that opposite thespur-wheelj', are two ratchetwheelsjg h, t-he teeth of which point inopposite directions, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

Situated longitudinally on each side of the apparatus, and near the dooror deck to which ^the said apparatus is secured, is horizontal shaft, i,which works in boxes or bearingsj, firmly attached to the said iioor.Rigidly secured upon each of the said shafts t is an npright piece orframe, lr, the upper end of which is forked and turned over horizontallyat right. angles to its upright portion, as clearly shown at m m in Fig.3.

Pivoted upon each ofthe shafts fi is a pawl, which extends upwardbetween the prongs m of the horizontal forked portion of the frame 7c',the distance between the said prongs being somewhat greater than thewidth of the pawl, so that the pawl may have a slight movement betweenthe prongs. These pawls are marked respectively a and r, and are soplaced upou their shafts t' that while the pawl n acts upon theratchet-wheel g the pawl 'r acts upon the ratchet-wheel h.

Rigidly attached to one end of each shaft 'i is an upright lever, s,which may loe provided with a knob or handle, t, and has formed upon itat its lower end a transverse treadle, u, so that by moving the lever sby hand, or by pressing downward upon one end or the other of the Ytreatlle a, the shaft t' may he turned to bring its attached pawl intoor out of contact with its ratchet-wheel, as will be presently morefully explained.

wis a vertical plate situated transversely at the end of the apparatuson the inner side of the levers s, and rinly secured upon the outervside of this plate are two straps or clasps, between which and thevertical plate t0 the levers s are allowed to work, as fully shown inFigs. l and 2, the clasps preventing the lever from being twisted out ofplace.

Secured upon the plate w, at the inner side of each lever s, is aspring, a ,which presses outward against the lever, and has an outwardcurve or bend, z, in its center, which acts as a stop to hold the leverat one end or the other of the said spring, according as the pawloonnected therewith is in or out of contact with its ratchet-wheel.

The wheel C is turned by means of its handles d, and operates theapparatus to move the rudder to any desired position in the usual way.When it is desired to hold the rudder stationary in such position thesteersman moves the levers s inward toward each other, either byoperating the said levers by hand or by pressing downward upon the innerends of the treadles u, thus turning the shafts t and frames 7c to bringthe upper ends of the pawls u r in contact with their respectiveratchet-wheels g h, and thus prevent the drum A from turning in eitherdirection, the levers being retained in place by the curved portions zof the springs y, which actas stops to prevent the levers from beingturned back from slight causes, and are yet sufliciently yielding toallow them to pass when moved by the steersman.

When it is desiredto release the drum A in orderto change the positionot' the rudder the levers s are moved outward, either by hand, as justmentioned, or by pressing the outer end of the treadle u downward by thefoot, so that the pawls are brought clear of the ratchetwheels and thedrum is allowed to turn in either direction.

When itis desired to prevent the drum from turning in one directiononly, one or the other (as desired) of the pawls is brought in Contactwith its corresponding ratchet -wheel, thus stopping the drum frommoving in one direction and allowing it to rotate in the oppositedirection. rlhe pawl, being narrower than the space between the prongs mof the frame 7c, as hereinbefore mentioned, has a slight movementtherein to allow the ratchet-teeth to pass beneath it during suchrotation of the drum.

By thus locking the rudder in any desired position the steersinan is notonly relieved from the severe exertion of holding it by manual forcealone, but is rendered much less liable to injury from the sudden strainand jerking of the wheel by the movements of the rudder in storms orrough weather.

What 'I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The pawls awand the frames 7c, arranged and operating with referenceto each other and with the two ratchet-wheels g h on the drum of theapparatus, substantially as herein set forth, for the purpose specified.

2. The levers s, provided with treadles u, or their equivalents,operating' the pawls n r, in connection with the ratchet-wheels g h,substantiall y as herei nbef'ore set forth, for the purpose specified'.

ED. A. TURNER.

Witnesses J. A. LnGGA'r, HENRY T. BROWN.

